Renewables

Johnson Controls, the maker of VARTA automotive batteries, has unveilled its first-generation 48-volt Lithium-ion Micro Hybrid battery.

Powersolve continues to add to its power bank and USB charger portfolio with the launch of a new solar charger and power bank that will charge mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras and any device that can be charged using a standard 5V 1A USB charger.

The Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV), developed by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), is an electric vehicle that can be charged while stationary or driving, thus removing the need to stop at a charging station. Likewise, an OLEV tram does not require pantographs to feed power from electric wires strung above the tram route.

As part of a new joint project, two companies and two academic institutes have got together with a single goal in mind: to improve battery performance in electric vehicles. The project partners hope that smart battery management will give a significant boost to the performance, safety, and service life of electric and hybrid vehicles. An innovative method that uses the path traveled by the electricity in the battery to transmit data provides the ...

Hybrids and pure electric vehicles rely on high efficiency power conversion and management. The power electronics found in these vehicles require cooling because of limitations in the temperature rating of components such as capacitors, which are used to store electrical energy. This in turns adds weight to the vehicles and drags down their reliability and efficiency.

Texas Instruments today introduced two programmable system timers that significantly reduce system standby power consumption. The TPL5000 with watchdog timer and TPL5100 with MOS driver draw only 30 nA of current, a reduction of 90 percent compared to competitive solutions. They also replace a microcontroller’s internal timer, allowing the MCU to remain in low-power sleep mode.

Encell Technology has today announced the introduction of a new Nickel-Iron battery, the Atlas 160. Designed to replace traditional valve-regulated lead-acid batteries in demanding microgrid energy storage applications, the 160 Ampere-hour, front-terminal, 12-volt rechargeable batteries started shipping this week.

Linear Technology has today introduced a complete regulating energy harvesting solution, the LTC3330. Delivering up to 50mA of continuous output current to extend battery life, the LTC3330 requires no supply current from the battery when providing regulated power to the load from harvested energy. It also requires just 750nA to operate when powered from the battery under no-load conditions.

Researchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) developed a new method to massively synthesize enhanced yet affordable materials for supercapacitors.

Littelfuse unveil that it has developed in cooperation with leading photovoltaic equipment providers a Series of 1500 VDC photovoltaic fuses designed to protect the next generation of solar installations. The SPXV and SPXN Series of fuses meet the tough requirements of 30kA interrupt ratings, 1500 VDC protection and global standards critical to solar equipment manufacturers.